Russian-speaking lawyer Yulia Grinberg found guilty of immigration fraud

General Director of the immigration services firm Vladimir Danskoy and immigration lawyer Yulia Grinberg were found guilty in a conspiracy to deceive the United States. A federal court in Manhattan found them guilty of committing immigration fraud, in particular, forging cases for asylum in the United States. The jury unanimously found the defendants guilty.

Prosecutor Damian Williams said the defendants "used the U.S. asylum system for financial gain by creating false claims and training clients to lie under oath."

Details of the crime

The indictment alleges a New York-based immigration services firm, Russian America, run by Danskoy. The investigation found that she worked primarily with clients from Russia and the CIS countries seeking visas, asylum, citizenship and other forms of legal status in the United States. Among other things, Russian America advised some of its clients on how they could obtain asylum in the US even if they were not legally eligible for asylum. The firm also prepared and filed fraudulent asylum applications with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). They often included false information and allegations of persecution in the applicants' home country. Members and partners of the firm also trained some clients to lie under oath during interviews conducted by USCIS officers and provided legal representation for clients during various immigration proceedings.

Vladimir Danskoy ran the Russian America office in Brooklyn. He advised and helped his clients obtain asylum under false pretenses. Among other things, Danskoy advised a client (a confidential FBI informant) to seek asylum in the US on the grounds that he was allegedly persecuted in Ukraine because he was gay. At the same time, Danskoy was fully aware that this man was not gay and was not subjected to any persecution. Danskoy drafted and submitted the whistleblower's asylum application to the Immigration Service, alleging that he was gay and persecuted.

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The Russian America office in Manhattan was headed by Yuri Mosha. He's on another immigration fraud case and has already pleaded guilty. He created a political blog for the client criticizing the authorities, in order to later state on its basis that the client is being persecuted in his homeland because of opposition views. You can read more about his case. here.

After filing falsified applications with USCIS, Danskoy and Mosha connected clients with immigration lawyer Yulia Grinberg. She had to prepare them for the interview at the asylum. According to the investigation, the lawyer taught clients how to lie to immigration officers and provided them with legal representation during immigration procedures.

Greenberg told clients how to answer expected questions from immigration agents (these answers were not always correct). And the client, who pretended to be gay, gave recommendations regarding the appearance - he had to correspond to her stereotypical ideas about the appearance of a gay man.

What punishment do they face?

Danskoy, 55, and Greenberg, 42, are both from Belarus and currently live in Staten Island, New York. Each was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit immigration fraud. The maximum penalty for this charge is 5 years in prison.

The maximum possible penalty is shown here for informational purposes only. The court will make a concrete decision on the punishment of Grinberg and Dansky.